West of Memphis, the new film from Amy Berg (director of 2006’s Catholic abuse exposé Deliver Us from Evil), is a bit of a cheat. Berg didn’t exactly pull her subject out of thin air. The trial of the West Memphis Three has been the subject of not one, but three award-winning, HBO-produced documentaries by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. What about the infamous case of three Arkansas teens convicted of murder—mostly because they liked heavy metal and wore black—is left for Berg to explore in the wake of Berlinger and Sinofsky’s exhaustive Paradise Lost trilogy? As it turns out, a lot.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is once sponsoring an officially sanctioned Oscar party at Albuquerque’s historic KiMo Theatre. New Mexico Film and Media Day will take place at the State Legislature in Santa Fe on Friday, Feb. 22.

Who’s Hosting?

By Devin D. O’Leary

The annual Academy Awards telecast strikes again this coming Sunday. Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hands out golden statues to the films and filmmakers its members think are most deserving. And every year, millions of Americans wonder if they should care—and if so, how much?